1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to gaming systems, gaming machines, and related methods. More particularly, the invention relates to gaming systems and methods delivering modifiable distributions of prizes by respectively associating prize levels with subsets including game outcomes with non-uniform probabilities to achieve targeted likelihoods and prize distributions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous gaming systems have been developed in which participants may be awarded prizes based on the result or outcome of a game play. The outcome of a game play in a gaming system may be determined in a number of different fashions. Video and electronic games available in casinos may determine a win or loss for each play of the game according to some algorithm. Lottery-type games rely on predetermined game records which are analogous to lottery tickets. Each game record is predetermined as being a winning or losing record, and winning records are associated with some prize. These predetermined game records are distributed to players in the course of game play, and a player receiving a winning record is entitled to the prize associated with that record.
Bingo-type games make up another general class of gaming systems. A bingo-type game is played with predetermined cards that include a number of designations randomly arranged in a grid of spots or locations. The cards may be physically printed on paper or another suitable material, or may be represented by a data structure which defines the various card locations and designations associated with the locations. In the course of play, designations are randomly selected from a pool of available designations and matched to the designations on the card. A card having matching designations arranged in some predetermined pattern is considered a winning card.
A new type of gaming system is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/028,889 entitled “Method and Program Product for Producing and Using Game Play Records in a Bingo-Type Game.” The entire content of this patent application is incorporated herein by this reference. This gaming system uses predetermined bingo-type cards, each card comprising a grid or other structure of locations and each location associated with one of a number of designations available in the game. Outcomes in the game are determined by matching randomly selected designations with the designations on the player cards as in any bingo-type game. However, the matches and thus winning and losing player cards are determined prior to distributing the cards to the players. The matched or “daubed” cards are distributed in some random order to players in response to game play requests from the players. Preferably, each player card and each matched player card is represented by a data structure, and the data structure itself and/or related data for a matched card is distributed to a player in response to a request for a play in the game. The players make these game play requests through player terminals which are in communication with a central computer used to distribute the matched game cards and/or data from the matched game cards.
Lottery-type games are each associated with a prize distribution or prize table. The prize table assigns the various outcomes in the game to different prize levels. For example, a prize table may be patterned on a poker game with various poker hands related to the various prize levels in the game. In this example, the poker hand representation is a graphic representation of the outcome in the game. The different possible hands are each associated with, or assigned to, a particular prize level in the prize table. Other prize tables may have a reel-type game (slot machine) theme, some other traditional casino game theme, or a theme totally unrelated to traditional gaming.
It is desirable for the games available at a particular gaming establishment to have a variety of different prize distributions. This variety in prize distributions helps maintain player interest and makes the gaming experience more exciting. It is also desirable that each particular prize distribution include a diverse set of the available prizes. A diverse set of prizes available in a game helps make the game more interesting and enjoyable to the players.
One problem with bingo-type games is that the probability of winning or losing with a particular card is always determined by a fixed set of constraints. These constraints include the number of designations available in the pool of designations, the predetermined pattern or patterns to be matched, and the number of locations on the card (or card data structure). For a given set of constraints, the probabilities of winning and losing are generally fixed. Although it is possible to vary these bingo probabilities by varying these constraints, varying the constraints may be cumbersome. Also, even varying the constraints for the bingo game has only a limited effect on the resulting bingo probabilities, that is, the probabilities of winning a prize in a particular bingo game.
Using bingo game probabilities to determine prize levels in a bingo-type game such as that described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/028,889 would constrain the possible prize distribution for the game and prevent the use of a desirable prize table/prize distribution. It is therefore desirable to develop some new method of assigning or distributing prizes in bingo-type games in general, and particularly the bingo-type game described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/028,889.